Markus Persson
Markus Alexej Persson (born 1 June 1979) (died 12 August 2073), better known as Notch, was a Swedish politician and video game programmer. He served as the 46th United States President. He also is known for creating the sandbox video game Minecraft and for founding the video game company Mojang in 2010, alongside Carl Manneh and Jakob Porser. Persson's principal venture for founding Mojang was Minecraft which gained popularity and support since its tech demo in 2009.3 Since then, he has gained significant notability within the video game industry, winning multiple awards and establishing relations with the industry's figureheads.4 He retained his position as the lead designer of Minecraft until the game's official launch in 2011, after which he transferred creative authority to Jens Bergensten.5 In November 2014, he left Mojang after its acquisition by Microsoft for $2.5 billion. Personal Life Persson is a member of the Swedish chapter of Mensa.14 On 13 August 2011, he married Elin Zetterstrand On 15 August 2012, he announced that he was single again. Persson has criticized both piracy16 and the stance of large game companies on piracy;17 additionally, he is a member of the Pirate Party of Sweden. He is an atheist and one of the principal donors to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).19 Under his direction, Mojang contributed a week to developing Catacomb Snatch for the Humble Indie Bundle; the $458,248 raised was donated to charity.20 In December 2014, Persson purchased a home in Trousdale for $70 million, a record sales price for Beverly Hills at the time.21 In October of 2024, Notch announced he married his girlfriend Liz Cheney. In November of 2024, Notch won the Presidential Election of 2024. In August of 2026, Notch announced his wife was pregnant. In November 2026 his wife gave birth to Liam Persson. Games Minecraft Persson's most popular creation is the survival sandbox game Minecraft, which was released on 18 November 2011.22 Persson left his job as a game developer to work on Minecraft full-time until completion. In early 2011, Mojang AB sold the one millionth copy of the game, several months later their second, and several more their third. Mojang hired several new staff members for the Minecraft team, while Persson passed the lead developer role to Jens Bergensten. A version for Android and iOS, the Pocket Edition, has also been released. An Xbox 360 edition of Minecraft was released on 9 May 2012. The Xbox edition features updates including a tutorial and skin packs.23 He has stopped working on Minecraft after a deal with Microsoft to sell Mojang for $2.5 billion. This brought his net worth to US$1.5 billion.24 Scrolls Persson and Jakob Porsér came up with the idea for Scrolls including elements from board games and collectible card games.[citation needed] Persson noted that he will not be actively involved in development of the game and that Porsér will be developing it.[citation needed]Persson revealed on his tumblr blog on 5 August 2011 that he was being sued by a Swedish law firm representing Bethesda Softworks over the trademarked name of Scrolls, claiming that it conflicted with their The Elder Scrolls series of games.25 On 17 August 2011, Persson challenged Bethesda to a Quake 3 tournament to decide the outcome of the naming dispute.26 On 27 September 2011, Persson confirmed that the lawsuit was going to court.27 ZeniMax Media, owner of Bethesda Softworks, announced the lawsuit’s settlement in March 2012.2829 The settlement allowed Mojang to continue using the Scrolls trademark.30 0x10c Following the end to his involvement with Minecraft, Persson began pre-production of an alternate reality space game set in the distant future in March 2012. On April Fools' Day, Mojang launched a satirical website for Mars Effect (parody of Mass Effect), citing the lawsuit with Bethesda as an inspiration.31 However, the gameplay elements remained true and on 4 April, Mojang revealed 0x10c (pronounced Ten to the C) as a space sandbox title.32 Persson officially halted game production in August 2013. However, C418, the composer of the game's soundtrack (as well as that of Minecraft), released an album of the work he had made for the game.33 Ludum Dare entries Persson has also participated in several Ludum Dare 48-hour game making competitions.34 * Breaking the Tower was a game Persson developed for the entry to the Ludum Dare No. 12 competition.[citation needed] The game takes place on a small island, where the player must gather resources, construct buildings, and train soldiers in order to destroy a large tower on this island. The game received brief gaming media attention.3536 * Metagun is a 2D platformer created for Ludum Dare no. 18.37 * Prelude of the Chambered is a game Persson developed for the entry to the Ludum Dare No. 21 competition. Prelude of the Chambered is a short first-person dungeon crawler video game.[citation needed] * Minicraft is a game developed for Ludum Dare No. 22, held 16–19 December 2011.3839 It is a small top-down game with similarities to Zelda and influenced by Minecraft. It is written in Java.[citation needed] Twitter controversies Starting around 2017, Persson began receiving criticism for political and social opinions he expressed on Twitter. In July 2017, he tweeted in support of a heterosexual pride day. After facing community backlash, he deleted the tweets and walked back his statements, writing in one tweet, "So yeah, it's about pride of daring to express, not about pride of being who you are. I get it now."40 In November 2017, Persson was criticized for posting a tweet that read, "It's ok to be white." In follow-up tweets, he said he believed privilege is a "made up metric." Critics of Persson said his message was "tone-deaf" and "ignorant"; The Root called the tweets a "white-privilege meltdown." 2024 Presidential Election In January of 2024, Notch announced he will be running for President of the United States as a Republican, along with VP candidate, Jeb Bush. He said he was liking Trumps presidency, but he disliked the fact that Trump wasn't doing much for internet security and privacy, and that is why he ran for President. LGBTQ+ Rights Persson is anti-LGBT. With him making tweets about wanting straight parades but not gay parades. This caused backlash from LGBTQ+ members and the Democrats, with Speaker of the House, Jill Stein tweeting "How unprofessional of @notch for talking down upon LGBTQ+ members. We need to accept the LGBT and not discriminate them" Internet Security, Privacy, & Piracy Plans Persson's campaign slogan is "Make the Internet Safe Again". He said in an interview with CNN "I support piracy, its a marketing tool. If i'm elected, I will work on making piracy legal in America, because piracy is not theft". He wanted to give everyone the ability to get a free VPN with unlimited data, to protect them while surfing on the internet. Presidency (2025 - 2034) First Term (2025 - 2030) On January 20th, 2025, Notch was inaugurated into office. In September of 2025, Notch ordered to make piracy legal. The bill passed the house, but Senate wouldn't approve, so Notch shut down the government for 10 days, until they approved the bill. In 2026, Notch ordered to give all citizens a free VPN with unlimited data, This bill passed house and senate. Attempted Impeachment During an interview with Fox News in 2026, The interviewer asked, "Some people say that giving all citizens free VPN's is a bad idea, it gives criminals an easier way to pirate games without being caught". Notch replied saying, "So what? Piracy is legal now". This caused people to start the impeachment process on Notch. Persson made a tweet about the impeachment saying "How ridiculous is my impeachment? It's legal to pirate games, movies, & more now. It's like impeaching someone for running a business. It's legal to run a business, just like how it's legal to pirate". The impeachment went to the House and failed to pass House. LGBTQ+ parades shutdown In 2027, Notch created a bill to make it illegal to run a LGBTQ+ parade. It passed House and barely passed Senate. This caused the LGBTQ+ community to start a trend on Twitter saying #NoMoreNotch Second Term (2030 - 2034) On January 20th, 2030, Notch was inaugurated into office for a second time. He created a bill to make Notchcare, what he calls "a better health care" Death On August 12th, 2073, Notch passed away from heart disease at the age of 93 in his home in Beverly Hills, California. Legacy Minecraft still continues to be a popular game, even after Notch's death. Notchcare revolutionized the way Health Care works, and is praised by many doctors. The Notch Memorial was built in honor of Persson in his home of Beverly Hills, California. Category:Nation Leaders Category:Future Nation Leaders